Payten Geppert '20 Recruiting Profile

I entered a new high school as a freshman with a small amount of running experience and couldn't decide between cheerleading or track. After deciding on Cross Country to help meet people before school officially started, I was sold on running! The encouragement that went with most runners was a perfect pairing with my positive, high energy personality. I loved how everyone was competitive, however, still motivated one another to do better, even those on opposing teams.

In addition to gaining a varsity letter my freshman year in Cross Country, I was able to get another letter for Track and I have been lucky enough to continue on the varsity teams throughout my three years of high school. As I enter my senior year, I am focused on gaining more speed and endurance in hopes to obtain new personal records for myself, but also motivate and role model for the underclassmen to continue the positivity of the sport. 

If you ask my coaches or teammates about me, they will not say I was the fastest on the team, however, they will tell you I have the most energy and positive encouragement towards others. I strive to make everyone feel good about themselves and work hard to reach their goals. My best compliment is when the underclassmen tell the coaches they can hear me cheering them on from various parts of the course and use my encouragement to push them. The enthusiasm they find through my passion is what drives me to continue. I would like to continue that part of my character to my collegiate career. Running and working as a team has encouraged me to work harder with my academics as well. I am typically an average student that is forced to work hard for my grades. I am not one it comes easy to, however, have maintained a 3.4 average throughout high school. I attribute a lot of this to the drive to be a better teammate with the support of one another to be better overall, not just on the track.

I look forward to improving in areas of character, athletics, and academics as I continue running in college!